In the Name of Science
by reka1207
Summary: Prime, post 'The Human Factor'. When he starts dissecting the patient, Knock Out begins to believe his assistant may not be as dead as he once thought.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's notes: **This is basically my reaction to 'The Human Factor'. Feedback is always appreciated!

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The human had fallen silent several minutes prior to them entering the medical bay. Knock Out didn't really mind. He would be making plenty of noise in a little while.

"There." With one hand Knock Out gestured to the operating table. "And do make sure the restraints are properly fastened. I don't want it getting loose and trying to escape."

Obediently, the Vehicons secured Silas to the table, checking and rechecking the bonds. They had overheard him tell Megatron what he had done to _his _faction. If the unthinkable did happen they would be the ones to blame – and the ones who would be forced to take him down at the cost of their lives.

Knock Out smirked at the expression on the pretender's faceplates. It was one of horror, as if he had finally realized the situation he was in as the last Vehicon exited and the door hissed closed. He began testing the restraint's strength, trying to free himself already.

"They were your friends, Breakdown." Not taking his optics off of the patient, Knock Out began preparing a surgical tray. A welder. He wouldn't be needing that, unless he needed to keep the patient alive. Scalpel. Definitely. Retractor. Probably. That would go next to the pliers.

"Knock Out?"

Abruptly his smirk twisted to form a glare. He slammed the tray down. Just as quickly his faceplates smoothed out and he smiled again.

Preparations finished, he wheeled the tray over to the operating table.

It was only then the patient really began to panic, twisting and trying to get out of the restraints with a mad fury Knock Out hadn't seen in a while. He was ventilating heavily as Knock Out approached, turning his missing optic away from the medic as Knock Out's drill came out.

Knock Out was silent, letting the patient hear the sound of the drill echo throughout the room.

"Knock Out it's me!" he was straining, trying to get away from the drill as the medic nonchalantly began undoing the hinges in his chest armor. He needed to get to the pain receptors. "It's Breakdown! What are you _doing_?"

The medic hesitated, though he did not shut off the drill. Then he spoke.

"I might have excused your pathetic attempts at tricking me if you weren't using his _voice._ I think that will go first."

Effortlessly, the chest plating came off, and Knock Out saw him for the first time. If keeping the human alive hadn't been in his best interests at the moment, it would have been the simplest thing in the world to simply take his head off right then. He switched off the drill and began digging around, trying to find the pain receptors.

"How _are _you being powered?" Knock Out asked rhetorically, using one claw to push the human out of his way. "I highly doubt your fragile organic bodies are equipped to handle the Energon that's required to power _me, _never mind someone Breakdown's size."

"Why don't we _try _it?" the human's jaw was clenched. It looked like he was in pain, though that might have had something to do with the fact that Knock Out's claw was digging into his back.

"Hmmm. Perhaps another time. In another universe. Ah."

The human's face was one of utter shock. Knock Out chuckled at his mouth hanging open. He tapped the fleshy body, noting how _something _cracked, but the human didn't seem able to feel it. All the better.

"Now I said I would start with Breakdown's voice box didn't I?" not expecting a reply and not receiving one, Knock Out smirked again.

He straightened and grabbed the scalpel, looking from the patient's eyes to his optics.

"This won't hurt a bit."

The patient began struggling again. The scientific part of Knock Out's mind told him to start recording these reactions and continue testing the pretender's 'fear' of him. Knock Out obliged.

"Knock Out stop!"

The medic's optics flicked back to the human, who looked back at him with a dark glare. He turned back to his target.

"Do you remember the battles in the streets of Kaon? I'd just left the Stunticons and you were teaching me how to use the – the – I can't remember what it's called but-"

Knock Out sliced the plating open. Energon began to spill from the incision and dripped to the floor.

Breakdown's voice began to shout, to beg. Knock Out shook his head.

"I don't know how you've managed to access his memory chips, but I will find out. Have no fear."

The voice went silent with a crackle of static. Curious, Knock Out looked at the human, wondering if he had suffered any damage to his body. Satisfied, he nodded.

"Now that that's settled we can get down to business."

Knock Out reached behind him, still not looking away from the human, who seemed to be trying to decide if he wanted to see if he could speak or not.

"I'm not sure if this device is capable of registering such small electrical impulses, but rest assured. If you survive what I have planned for you, I'll make sure to ask Soundwave to send Laserbeak out for a _real _human monitor."

Knock Out attached the cord behind the human's back, ignoring the glare and muffled grunt he got in response.

He'd expected to hear the sound of the monitor informing him there was no Spark activity. Perhaps a tiny sound of a human heart, or whatever was keeping the patient online.

Instead he was greeted with the sound of a Cybertronianlife signal, beating to the rhythm of his own Spark.

Knock Out stopped, well aware that his hands were covered in badly manufactured and volatile Energon and that one of them was in the patient's voice box, or that the human was staring up at him with an expression he should be wary of. Pulling his hand out of the patient's neck, he shoved the human aside, ignoring the grunt of imagined pain, and dug past the pain receptors and felt around for the latch.

Unhooking the chamber casing, Knock Out pulled off yet more armor and plating, optics growing wider and wider as he began to see the telltale blue glow of an online Spark.

He stopped as soon as the Spark was exposed, instinctively moving to prevent the human from seeing it. He couldn't really stop the optics from seeing the Spark, but he could prevent the eyes from seeing what only medics and bondmates should witness. His optics flicked up to the patient's damaged optic, which stared back at him.

Curious, he activated his drill and moved it closer to the optic. The reaction was violent. Jerking away, helm smashing into the operating table, but he probably couldn't feel any of it. He began ventilating audibly – panting, really, and Knock Out moved back.

Transforming his hand, he touched the bare optic with one claw, as he had when Breakdown had shown up at the door so long ago. Though he flinched, there was none of the terror.

Knock Out wanted to say it, but a quick glance at the human who was staring at him with a slightly confused expression would use anything he said against him. Instead he simply picked up the welder and began sealing the patient's neck back together.


	2. Chapter 2

"—so I believe that by rerouting his subprocessors through the human's own brain, a portion of Breakdown's own consciousness was able to remain online. It may even be how he ended up here!" With one hand Knock Out gestured to the surveillance footage playing on a screen. "With Breakdown influencing his mind the human could have-"

"I've heard enough."

Knock Out fell silent.

Megatron took a step forward.

"Do you mean to tell me you believe Breakdown is _alive_?" One claw gestured to a different screen showing the sickbay from one of the recently installed security cameras. "That that _monstrosity _still has the right to call itself a Decepticon?"

Knock Out visibly shrank back.

"Well, Lord Megatron, it would be more accurate to say that-"

"And after all the trouble he has just caused this faction, _why _should I allow you to bring him back?"

"Technically that wasn't Breakdown, that was the human." Megatron raised an optic ridge, but Knock Out continued. "And after the bug's death we could use another hard hitter, couldn't we?"

A low growl was his only reply for a long moment.

Knock Out waited. Finally Megatron spoke.

"I expect regular reports on your progress. I do notwant this…_project_ to get in the way of your duties as my medic. And I want to know how the humans learned how to achieve this level of engineering."

Knock Out nodded quickly, not bothering to hide the smile on his face. "Of course my Lord. I would do nothing less."

He bowed quickly and practically skipped out of the room.

Megatron sighed and looked back at the footage of the destroyed human compound.

Knock Out entered the sickbay, barely sparing a glance at the glaring human before turning his full attention to the readings generated by the device that was attached to the base of Breakdown's neck cabling. The greatest amount of activity was coming from the frontal processor core, though if it was sorely Breakdown's mind or the human's Knock Out didn't know. He wasn't sure how he was going to find out.

He began pacing, pausing to rearrange the tools in their respective places as he walked in circles around the room.

"Perhaps electrocution triggered the original reaction," he muttered to a vial of experimental green liquid. "Should I try that again?"

"What you should try," the human said loudly. "Is letting me go."

Knock Out smiled.

"When I learn how to separate you from Breakdown I will do just that. Then we will see the effect the thermosphere has on the human body. How does that sound?" Knock Out picked up his prod from its place in the corner and nonchalantly walked over to the operating table, activating it just to hear its reassuring humming.

He had managed to forget about the Energon he had spilled on the ground while disabling the voice box. Knock Out tripped and slid, coming to a stop only when he crashed face first into the operating table. The prod followed, hitting him in the head and rolling onto the patient's body and delivering a sudden, powerful shock.

Knock Out managed to pull himself up with the help of the tool tray and a few choice swear words. Rubbing his face with one hand he grimaced as he felt a thin scratch marring his faceplate.

The human didn't comment on his blunder. Checking his vital signs, Knock Out determined the exposure to the prod had managed to knock him out. His optics went to Breakdown's, curious to see if they would shut off when their commander was inactive.

They were still online, and still staring at him, though they didn't appear to be moving. Knock Out reached out to touch the damaged one, a gesture that felt like it was becoming customary. No reaction.

Then he looked to the monitor. The activity in Breakdown's frontal processor was still going strong.

So did that mean that _that _was Breakdown? Or was the human simply dreaming?

Knock Out wiped up the spilled Energon with an old rag as his processer struggled to analyze the data it had been given. How much processing power was required to keep a Cybertronian Breakdown's size functional, with just unconscious functions and routines alone taking up so much space? Never mind the power it would take to make him think coherently, never mind walk and talk again.

His gaze drifted to the cordical psychic patch. There was that. That would be the one sure way to see if Breakdown really was alive. He shuddered at the possibility of spending even a minute in the mind of that _human _and left it as his last resort.

He began pacing again, never taking his optics from the monitor. This continued for several cycles until his hand touched his faceplate and he realized that he had forgotten to fix the scratch.

Looking longingly at Breakdown's hands and sighing, he grabbed a buffer and his can of paint.

Ten cycles later, he was in the middle of wiping off the last of the dust from his armor when his audio receptors picked up the sounds of the human coming out of stasis.

"I'd say it's good to have you back, but I'm not known around here for my sincerity," Knock Out said when he was sure the human was coherent enough to understand him.

The human chuckled. Breakdown's fingers twitched.

"Why are you even _trying? _Your 'friend' is dead, and he was dead before I repurposed his body as my own."

"You're rather...arrogant for someone who was practically begging for mercy at Megatron's pedes just yesterday, aren't you?" at random, Knock Out selected a sharp implement used for scraping debris out of deep battle wounds from a cabinet. He stepped forward, making sure to let Breakdown's bad optic see him.

As he suspected, the human simply glared; after all, Knock Out hadn't actually _done _anything to directly harm him yet, but Breakdown's body was a different story. It began twisting and jerking, trying to get out of his restraints. The readings on the monitor went haywire.

"I am a licensed medical professional," Knock Out said smoothly. "In a manner of speaking."

"These attempts to wear me down will not work, _machine_."

Knock Out moved out of the human's normal range of vision while staying well within Breakdown's. He permitted himself a small chuckle.

"Really now? Is that the best you can come up with?" he put the pick down and activated his drill. "How do you know I'm not simply drilling a hole into your processor as we speak, if only to find a way to shut you up?" taking a gamble, Knock Out winked at Breakdown.

The human fell silent for a peaceful moment. Gently, Knock Out pressed the drill to the side of the operating table, allowing metal shavings to fall to the floor-and the sound to echo all around the sickbay.

"How do you know that, human_? _How do you know _that_?"


	3. Chapter 3

Author's notes: A big thank-you to everyone who reviewed/subscribed/favorited this story! This is a filler chapter…kind of but not really. Setting up for Knock Out and Silasdown shenanigans next chapter.

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Knock Out continued drilling the empty air, occasionally pressing the tool to the operating table just to see if the human would flinch. He always reacted in the same manner, Knock Out noted in a dry, detached way, as if he didn't realize by now his processing functions would be damaged by the activity.

He stopped and looked up as the doors hissed open and Dreadwing limped in, dragging his left leg behind him.

The human perked up at the new, obviously injured visitor.

"Dreadwing? What happened to you?"

"Yes. What…did happen?"

Knock Out glared, but the human paid him no attention. The human was strangely fascinated with the exposed wiring and plating, so he hurried to get the Seeker out of his range of vision, settling him down on one of the spare operating tables.

"The raid was…unsuccessful. The Autobots discovered our decoy and moved too quickly to take the real relic." Dreadwing grimaced as Knock Out lifted his leg and placed it on the table and began attaching Spark sensors to his chest. "There were many casualties."

"Well there's nothing I can do about that." Finished with the preliminary preparations, Knock Out injected the Seeker with a numbing agent. It shouldn't be enough to put him out completely, Knock Out reasoned, unless Dreadwing's fuel tanks were empty. "What about injured?"

Dreadwing blinked slowly. "Lots."

Knock Out sighed.

"Could we get a specific number here? Do I have time to patch up your leg before I need to prepare the sickbay for triage?"

Dreadwing looked down at his leg.

"Maybe…ten. When I was there last."

Knock Out grabbed wire mesh and pressed it into the Seeker's leg.

"Hold it there."

Dreadwing nodded slowly, though Knock Out doubted he would be online long enough for it to do any good.

With one final look at the human in Breakdown's body, Knock Out began organizing tools and rearranging the materials in the space he had to work with. With two operating tables occupied, unless two other officers were injured, per table, he would have space to put two injured drones side by side. But the only officers left were Soundwave and Megatron, and it wasn't likely that they were injured. It was even less likely they had participated.

Knock Out turned to Dreadwing for confirmation. The question died in his mouth as he saw the Seeker had fallen into stasis.

The human chuckled.

"I suppose no one bothered to tell you about this excursion?"

Knock Out forced a smirk onto his faceplates as he stacked sheeting on an easy-to-reach countertop.

"Perhaps I was too busy learning how your processor works to pay attention."

The human fell silent, allowing him to concentrate solely on his work for a few minutes. Knock Out was in the middle of deciding where exactly to put the sedatives if he couldn't ask Breakdown to hand him them when the human spoke again.

"I must say, medic, it will be a very enjoyable experience watching you practice your techniques on someone other than myself."

"I don't recall ever saying I would allow you to watch." He glanced around the sickbay. Everything was as ordered as it could be. Only time would tell if this system worked or not. If it didn't…

The door hissed open and two Vehicons ran in, one missing an arm. The other one looked fine. He hesitated as Knock Out directed the injured trooper to the operating table.

"If you're not injured get out," Knock Out said shortly, and the Vehicon scurried out. "How many more are there?"

The Vehicon sucked in a huge breath of air as Knock Out wrapped the wire mesh around the stump. "Most of us are dead, sir. But-"

"How many are _injured_?"

"I – I don't know."

The door hissed open again. Knock Out grabbed the trooper's remaining hand and pressed it to the mesh.

"Hold it there until the Energon stops."

The Vehicon nodded.

Three more troopers ran in, two supporting a squadmate whose legs had been blown off. Energon followed their path in a bright blue trail and in a faraway corner of his mind Knock Out began to worry about someone slipping in the mess.

"Put him on the operating table." He waved the amputee off and grabbed a sedative. As he approached the injured Vehicon the trooper began panicking, damaged voice box emitting bursts of static as he tried to get away. Knock Out paid no attention and plunged the device into a patch of exposed protoform. Almost immediately the Vehicon stopped struggling and the Energon stopped flowing so readily.

Knock Out turned to the Vehicon's squadmates. One of them had an obvious head wound and the other had taken a shot to the chest. He made the decision in half an astrosecond.

"Keep out of the way," Knock Out snapped, shoving past them to examine the stasis-locked trooper. If he got to him quickly enough he would live. He had plenty of spare parts, after all. The other amputee and the two with minor injuries could wait, and as long as Dreadwing didn't online and decide to demand his leg be fixed or a more seriously wounded drone wandered in, he could deal with this problem right now.

"Why don't you let me go and I'll give you a hand, doc?"

Knock Out cringed. He had forgotten about the human.

"Why don't you be silent and let the real robot work, little human, and maybe I won't accidentally cut your voice box out?" Knock Out grabbed the welder and waved it in the human's face before moving back to the Vehicon.

He bent over what remained of the trooper's legs and began trying to reroute the bleeding, directing it back to primary functions instead of simply dripping onto the floor. Simply put: welding the smaller Energon lines shut until he could attach new legs.

The sickbay was silent for a few moments. The two slightly-injured Vehicons hesitated, reluctant to disrupt the peace, before going over to the stores of wire mesh and sheeting and began patching themselves up.

Knock Out was halfway done when the door hissed open again and several pairs of pedes stormed in, accompanied by panicked shouting, choked screaming and Energon splattering to the floor.

Without turning around, he slammed the welder down, glad that his patient was in stasis. Out of the corner of his optic he was sure he saw Laserbeak flying in circles around the room.

"I don't care if Lord Megatron himself is at death's door right now," he said, turning as he spoke. "I certainly-"

"I certainly hope that if you are willing to let me bleed out on the operating table, Knock Out," Megatron said in a voice that sent Knock Out back several steps and his head down, away from the warlord's optics to quite possibly the only being Megatron would deign to hold in one arm. "You would make an exception for one of your fellow officers."

With his free hand he beckoned Knock Out forward. The medic stepped closer, realizing the human and every Vehicon was staring at them.

When Knock Out was close enough, Megatron deposited the not-quite half-alive body of their communications chief into his arms.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Notes: Wow. I was not expecting that many reviews! Thanks everyone!

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Soundwave's body was…surprisingly heavy. Knock Out struggled to drag him over to the last empty table, trying to ignore Megatron's watchful glare and the stares of the less-injured Vehicons.

And, of course, the human's beady optics and slightly upturned mouth. The table he unceremoniously dumped Soundwave on was within the human's full view, providing him with a first row seat to Cybertronian biology no organic should ever see.

Without thinking, Knock Out injected the other Decepticon with a sedative and began attaching sensors to what remained of his chest. Considering his weight and frametype, the medic guessed Soundwave would burn through the sedative in about two megacycles, and wouldn't be able to handle another one for four more.

Totally aware of the complete silence in the room, Knock Out examined the injury. It was the size of both of his hands and _looked _like the decoy had been smashed into his chest, possibly by a blunt weapon, possibly by Bulkhead's wrecking ball. Of course there were internal injuries to think about, and the usual crushed vents and lines that could prevent him from circulating Energon properly, and lead to the loss of limbs.

Knock Out straightened and turned to open a hatch, moving pieces of packaging and spare parts aside until he found it.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Applause?"

Suitably abashed, the Vehicons continued to perform what minor field repairs they knew. Knock Out beckoned Megatron closer, starting up the scan as he did so.

"This scan should tell us exactly how deep in this object has penetrated. If the procedure can be completed now, I will do it, but if-"

"Soundwave takes priority over _all _of them."

"But Lord Megatron, I think that if I wait-"

The look in the warlord's optics silenced any protest, however logical and well-intended Knock Out might have thought up.

"I'll get right on it my lord." The scanner beeped, presenting him with a clear image of the injury.

"It could have been worse," Knock Out reasoned, mostly to himself, tracing one claw along the digitized image of Soundwave's fuel pump, mentally going over the steps he would be taking to do the procedure without Breakdown's assistance. "But my, lord, you should know that this is a rather lengthy operation, and when he awakens in the middle of it…it will not be pleasant."

Nearly imperceptibly Megatron's optics narrowed, but Knock Out still stepped back.

"If your medical expertise is as good as some make it out to be, I expect that you can handle any complications."

Knock Out inclined his head. Thankfully, the warlord took the hint and stormed out almost immediately after, though not before informing him that he would be returning as soon as a matter of great importance was dealt with.

With Megatron gone, the entire space felt empty. Knock Out snuck a glance at the human, who was trying not to stare at the exposed cables by pretending to look at the field repairs two Vehicons were performing on a fellow squadmate. He looked at Breakdown's optics. They were looking into his own. Unnerved, he turned away, widening the wound with a scalpel and preparing to dig in.

"Umm…sir?"

_"What?" _Knock Out looked up and checked the time on his internal chronometer. Soundwave had perhaps one megacycle of stasis left, and he was barely halfway done.

"Er, if could you perhaps-"

The medic growled and the Vehicon flinched away, but Knock Out beckoned him closer.

"Put your hand where my hand is."

The Vehicon complied.

"Do you feel that? Just at the tips of your servos?"

The trooper nodded.

"You can touch it, if you want. It's rather durable." The medic shot a glance at the human, dropping his voice. "What you are feeling is Soundwave's fuel pump. Now, if I can't get this hunk of scrap metal out of his chassis within the next megacycle, he will awaken and most likely panic. Then, the decoy will puncture his fuel tank leading to an extraordinarily painful death and Lord Megatron will have _all _of our heads for trophies."

The Vehicon jerked his hand out of the opening. Energon began dripping to the floor.

"I'm sorry sir. It's just that he's going into stasis lock."

The double amputee. Knock Out considered the time and pulled his hands out, cleansing them quickly. His back felt stiff after hunching over Soundwave's body and his processor was beginning to overheat.

Quickly, he looked at the damage. If the bleeding wasn't brought under control soon, he would go into stasis lock and then offline.

"I can't do anything more for him."

"Couldn't you try?"

Knock Out glared. The Vehicon cowered, surprised at his own impudence.

"I can give him a sedative. That will make the process easier for your 'friend'." Knock Out looked at the remaining troops. Perhaps if one of them had had any previous medical training…

The silence was broken by the human. Knock Out turned, ready to give the fleshbag a piece of his scalpel before realizing that Breakdown's body was reaching for the welder, much to the anger of its current occupant. 

"Breakdown?" The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. "What are you doing?"

The other Decepticon opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. Scowling, he jabbed one finger in the direction of the injured Vehicon, and then to the welder.

Of course. Knock Out had disabled his vocaliser just a few solar cycles ago. It wasn't something he could fix on the fly.

He made the decision in less than an astrosecond.

"I'm going to hook you up to the voice synthesizer."

Breakdown nodded. Quickly, Knock Out draped a tarp over Breakdown's lower torso, preventing his now-conscious assistant from trying to extract the human. Or from seeing anything he wasn't ready to see.

"Don't ask questions, Breakdown." Once he nodded, there was a rush of static as the bulky device was attached to the other Decepticon's throat. The synthesizer was too unreliable for anything but temporary use, and Breakdown wouldn't sound anything like Breakdown but it was better than nothing. "They're not good for you."

"Get over here." Knock Out pulled the Vehicon to Breakdown's side with one hand. "Breakdown will explain how to cut off the bleeding lines. _Listen to him._"

The Vehicon nodded, staring at Breakdown. Knock Out began to wonder if he had been one of the troops to drag him into the sickbay when he spoke.

"What do I do?"

"Take the…welder."

The voice was too mechanical, too monotone. But it was Breakdown's way of speaking. Hearing it, Knock Out nearly jumped on the way back to Soundwave's table.

"Seal off - broken – bleeding lines."

Breakdown struggled against the restraints but did not question them, thankfully. He strained to see the Vehicon's work.

Knock Out's Spark stopped for a cycle as he remembered that no matter what Breakdown was acting like _now_, he was still attached to the human. The human who had heard everything that had just taken place, even if he hadn't seen it. For all he knew this could just be an elaborate ruse, or fragmented data surfacing as memories. Truthfully it was nothing conclusive-

He would deal with that when the time came. Looking at the pool of Energon in Soundwave's chassis, the analytical, scientific part of his mind realized he had forgotten to calculate for Energon loss when guessing how long the sedatives would last. The orderly part of his mind realized he was shouting for everyone who was not dying to "_Get the frag out!"_, and the final, instinctive, survival-oriented part of him realized that somehow Megatron was standing right behind him.


End file.
